Artistry in Dance Music: A Lost Art?

As 2009 is in full swing, I feel like the true artistry in dance music is dying (or has already died) an ugly death, resulting in dozens of displaced singers and artists, who don’t know where to turn. What is the answer? In my opinion, it’s a return to true artistry. People need to get excited by a live show, as well as the songs for an artist’s career to step up a level. Do you have your own style as an artist? What separates you from dance artist B, C, or D?

One thing I love about the underground scene is that people are not afraid to take risks. Yes, a lot of that music is drug-driven and monotonous, but there are some very cool ideas within some of the tracks. I also think that songwriting has suffered, resulting in a lot of people putting out weak records with even weaker remixes. What does an artist get out of spending 5-6 thousand dollars on something that generates $500? Debt. Debt is what you get with that sort of business model, so if you’re ego is that huge and your pockets are that deep, then knock yourself out.

Sadly, I feel that most people are too lazy or uninterested in exploring these avenues. They want all the amenities of being a star without actually doing the work. I think the late 1990’s and early 2000’s were a bubble of sorts. Lots of money was being thrown around in the wrong places and artistry really stopped developing. It doesn’t help that it’s damn near impossible for anyone to make money on dance music in this country. I’ll get into radio’s part in all of this in another blog.